Religious+Expression+in+Australia+post+1945

__Explain the several reasons for the changing religious landscape from 1945 to the present day.__

There are several factors which have shaped the way the religious landscape looks in Australia today. Two vital factors include immigration and war. In 1945, 87.3 percent of Australians were Christians, and only 0.5 percent were adherents of the four other major religions. This was the consequence mainly of many people of European countries fleeing their countries to escape World War 2. This saw a huge rise in the number of Orthodox Christians and Catholics. The vast number of Italians migrating increased the number of Catholics in Australia. While the numbers of orthodox Christians and Catholics increased greatly they were still very far from the number of Anglicans who took up 39 per cent of all Christians in Australia up until late 1940’s.. There was a huge growth in the number or orthodox people with the number multiplying almost seven times. The number of Catholics also grew from 20.9 percent in 1947 to 24.9 per cent in 1961 (as stated in the bureau of statistics). In the 1970’s as a result of war in the Middle East Australia gained many new migrants. Most of these migrants from the Middle East were Muslim. This saw a huge increase in the number of Muslims as Islam became a recorded religion in the census in the 1970’s. Before this Islam was not an option on the census. Since the 1970’s the number of Muslims have risen dramatically from 0.2 percent in 1971 to 1.7 percent in 2006. 1971, was the first year that no religion was a given option in the census. In this year 6.7 percent of Australia was in this category compare to 0.4 percent ten years before (as stated in the bureau of statistics). This number continued to grow and now 18.7 percent of Australians consider them self to have no religion. There has been a huge increase in the number of Buddhists and Hindu people as a result of immigration from countries in Asia. Countries such as India and Nepal have meant that there has been a huge increase in the number of Hindu people. Other countries such as china and Vietnam are the direct cause of growing numbers of Buddhists. People migrated from these countries during the Vietnam War and also for job opportunities. There was a great demand for employees in the 1970’s and as a result many people migrated from Asia to make Australia their new home.

__Explain the importance of ecumenism for Christianity in Australia.__ As the number of Christians in Australia grew so did the number of variants of Christianity. The growing number of these denominations meant that many people were switching denominations as they discovered something better for them. The switching between denominations created an increase in sectarianism. This is a biased opinion towards branches of the same religion. To bring unity back to the Christian church an ecumenical movement began to bring peace and understanding between different branches of Christianity. Many organizations have been made to improve the relationship between different denominations of Christianity. Some of these organizations include; Christian research association and the ITIM (Interchurch trade industry mission). As a result of these organizations the uniting church of Australia was developed. One of the most important organizations is the NCCA (National council of churches in Australia). This has been very important role in strengthening the relationship between different denominations. Despite the huge difference between Protestantism, Catholicism, and Orthodoxy the NCCA was able to bring these churches together for discussion. These three branches agreed a set of guidelines which were almost impossible to discuss thirty years ago. Thanks to the NCCA there has been a decrease in tension between these three branches. In 1945, the Presbyterian Church had for the first time agreed to negotiate with the Methodist church. This has with the help of the uniting church in Australia. This strengthened the relationship between these two belief systems and today very little sectarianism is displayed between the two of them. Ecumenism is very important for the Christian church. It has in the past and will continue to assist in bringing unity between Christian churches. The Christian church would be very different without the ecumenical movement and as it could be noticed today many of the Christian churches have been united by organizations such as the NCCA and the UCA. The unity between Christian denominations is needed to expand Christianity and decrease sectarianism.